Hello everybody, Renren here back with another AGOV Metagame Report, fresh off YCS Bologna! Our team is still hard at work compiling as much information as possible regarding the event. While we know the full deck breakdown, we don't quite fully know all the specific decks of the players. Still, we have over 40 lists and counting!
Here are some preliminary statistics for this YCS in particular. Feel free to check decklists and more information here! Special thanks to the MBT Jank Tank and r/yugioh Discord servers for their help on this article.
The Metagame at a Glance
As you can see, this tournament was incredibly diverse and had a lot of surprising developments. Diabellstar Rescue-ACE and Tearlaments (with more lists on the Horus engine) managed to get the most spots. Unchained didn't perform as well this time around but still put up a decent showing. The top 3 decks are locked in, with both Tear and Unchained fighting for the top 2 and 3 spots respectively.
The undeniable rise of Labrynth is upon us, with high-profile players such as Gabriel Netz, Cristian Urena, Luka Forjan, Din-Kha Bui, and Joo-Ho Ahn all finding massive success with it. A couple of reasons for this include its positive matchup against Rescue-ACE and innate resistance to most hand traps used to stop the top decks (sans Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring).
Furniture builds can now maximize the power of Arias the Labrynth Butler to snowball out of control, sometimes even when the opponent gets to go first! Lastly, Super Starslayer TY-PHON - Sky Crisis further improving the deck's ability to fight back doesn't hurt either! If Labrynth keeps up this strong performance, the deck is very likely to join the Top 3 in Tier 1. Arguably, it's already there as some would say.
It's been a tough format for Purrely, but there's still some hope. While not new, the crafty Italian players were able to find modest success with Spright variants! The added gas to get to the Epurrelys thanks to Nimbles plus the benefits Spright has to offer give the deck a significant power boost at the cost of some non-engine. Number 29: Mannequin Cat is also a powerhouse that can turn the duel on its head and summon game-ending threats from the Side Deck, such as The End of Anubis and Archlord Kristya.
Most notable of all would be the sheer volume of different decks that got in. Diabellstar Fire King surprised people by performing better than expected despite not having the reinforcements from Phantom Nightmare. Might be a good idea to keep an eye out on it, especially lists making use of the Snake-Eyes engine. Marincess and Kashtira topped as well, as both decks excel in formats where Hand Traps are favored over board breakers. With that being said, Bologna being Top 64 means there's bound to be a lot of rogue contenders in the top placings. Let's take a look at some of the more prolific results!
Vanquish Soul
Vanquish Soul snuck its way twice into the Top Cut of YCS Bologna. The other VS top made use of the Horus engine to supplement the strategy, but Antonio Espinar Pineda decided to stick with the usual version, with a few unique twists.
More recent VS lists haven't been as focused on the FIRE/DARK/EARTH attributes in terms of defensives as they opt to main cards like Droll & Lock Bird, Nibiru, the Primal Being, and Effect Veiler. He decided to fully commit to the 3 attributes to fully utilize the VS monsters' reveal effects as consistently as possible. As a result, Dimension Shifter was main decked which also gave a bunch of decks in the format quite some trouble. D.D. Crow and Dinowrestler Pankratops had some pretty good matchup spread too.
Pineda decided to eschew Pot of Prosperity altogether in favor of maxing out on "Infernoble Arms - Durendal" to guarantee he gets to see Vanquish Soul Razen. the most important card in the deck. Because he doesn't have to worry about the Heavy Borger + Prosp conflict, he ran a full playset of both DARK VS monsters to facilitate these draws. Durendal easily enables Vanquish Soul Jiaolong double searches as well. With 3 Vanquish Soul Dr. Mad Love and easier Jiaolong activations, it made sense to run 1 of each of the Vanquish Soul Spell and Trap cards.
Perhaps the most interesting part of his list was the tech card in the Side Deck. Gizmek Uka, the Festive Fox of Fecundity is a nice meta-call that checks decks such as Mannadium, Purrely, Unchained, and occasionally Mikanko by summoning out a respective Barrier Statue to lock them out of the game, either Barrier Statue of the Inferno or Barrier Statue of the Heavens. Against EARTH decks, you can summon another copy of Uka or Kashtira Fenrir. The repeated burn can also steal a very crucial game 3 when needed. Vanquish Soul has two additional synergies with Uka that set it apart from other decks. The EARTH attribute is scarce to come by and Uka helps supplement that low count. Since Uka works off either player summoning from the Main Deck, Stake your Soul! can get it out on the field in a pinch.
Horus Centur-Ion
Manuel Brocco brought Horus Centur-Ion to YCS Bologna with a respectable Top 32 finish. We haven't seen much of Centur-Ion up until recently, with its price and availability making it difficult to obtain. Despite that, it appears to be a promising rogue contender this format. Its high generic count, solid consistency, strong 1-card combos, and extenders to fall back on are its key strengths. The deck is also capable of running a secondary engine. Pure, Bystial, Superheavy Samurai, and Horus variants all did well this YCS. We'll be focusing on the Horus build, which Manuel used.
Imsety, Glory of Horus is no doubt a powerhouse and if often the prime choice to use Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring against for most players, barring a few exceptions. Since Centur-Ion doesn't like having Centur-Ion Primera interrupted too much in awkward hands, it's better to lead with Imsety and have it take the hit. In the off chance it does go off though, you get a lot more tools to play with.
Free multiple level 8 monsters allow you to make Centur-Ion Legatia without having to use up either Centur-Ion Emeth VI / Centur-Ion Trudea or make a Rank 8 such as Number 90: Galaxy-Eyes Photon Lord to protect the combo. You can even choose to leave Hapi, Guidance of Horus up on the field to use as Synchro material for Stand Up Centur-Ion! during the opponent's turn. The extra push the Horus monsters provide going second can allow you to fight boards in combination with Legatia and one of the most integral cards in the strategy, Kashtira Fenrir, Not only is Fenrir a strong generic, but it adds a free card that you can fodder for Stand-Up, Imsety, and King's Sarcophagus. Pretty good stuff!
Should the Centur-Ion combo resolve uninterrupted (Legatia + the tools needed to set up Crimson Dragon on their turn), sometimes it's better to hold the Horus cards for turn 3 to prevent being blown out by Nibiru, the Primal Being. All in all, it's a fairly sensible mix that can get the job done. The last thing to note is that the Horus monsters can help you make S:P Little Knight in tight spots.
Bystial Runick
Last but certainly not least, Joshua Schmidt does the unthinkable and takes Bystial Runick to a 1st place finish in YCS Bologna! This is a momentous occasion and marks his 4th YCS win overall. While the deck isn't new by any means and has seen some experimentation in the regional scene a few months ago, Joshua made his version of the deck and refined the strategy to be what it is today.
Guiding Quem, the Virtuous is a key part of the strategy, as she is a Level 4 Tuner that gets you another Tuner in combination with a Runick Quick-Play spell. This means you can dump Blazing Cartesia, the Virtuous and bring her back later on after you use a Runick card. Additionally, this shields Hugin the Runick Wings from Ash Blossom, as it would be CL1 Hugin and CL2 Quem. From here, you can make Tri-Edge Master to climb into a Level 10 Synchro and get a draw for your trouble.
Branded Regained, which can be placed for free by The Bystial Lubellion is another integral part of the deck in conjunction with Runick Fountain. With both in play, you can overwhelm the opponent with absurd amounts of card draw and card advantage! Possibly drawing up to 5-8 cards total across two turns. Your opponent's banished pieces off Runick cards can also be used to net you free draws and similarly act as Chain Link 2 for Fountain.
A special mention has to go to Bystial Dis Pater, S:P Little Knight, and Sleipnir the Runick Mane who possess incredible synergy with each other and Regained. Due to Regained's importance, Josh opted to run 2 copies. Should the first one be outed, he can easily get the second one back onto the field. He decided not to run Branded Beast over the second Regained, as you can immediately take advantage of Regained's power without the nasty brick, and it's just a better card to draw/open overall. Having two on the field isn't a bad idea either, as both copies can bring back a Bystial monster, making it difficult for your opponent to push for an OTK.
Bystials put copies of Hugin and Geri the Runick Fangs back to your deck with Regained and net you a draw. You can also revive them with Regained to further impede your opponent and recur more resources with Bystial Magnamhut's search effect or Bystial Baldrake's disruption. Their handy level allows you to pump out level 10 Synchros with ease in conjunction with the Tuners. As a bonus, they are powerful hand traps to be used against popular decks such as Tearlaments, Labrynth, and occasionally Unchained proved to be quite useful, as Runick is known for having pretty low generic spots.
Duality was an interesting tech that allowed Josh to put monsters in the GY so his Bystials have an entry point, dodge targeted effects, and access neat toolbox options such as The Fabled Unicore all in one card! Allvain the Essence of Vanity was used for Hugin, Unicore for Geri, and Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend for Lubellion. The GY effect is a solid bonus for additional recycling and draw power.
Conclusion
The metagame continues to be as diverse as ever, with the power level of decks being fairly similar to each other. More people have gravitated towards hand traps, which should be respected and considered during deck building. We'll have to wait and see just how Maze of Milennia and Phantom Nightmare will shake up the format. I hope you enjoyed this breakdown. Until next time folks, Renren out!
